Fade Into You
by partypantscuddy
Summary: Set after the events of "Out of The Chute", Cuddy shows up at House's door one night in tears, and this time it isn't his fault.


**_Long story short this was inspired by this prompt from the fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment tumblr : "It's the middle of the night, and your ship are not a couple (yet). Person A is reading a book in their living room, and just before it gets to the exciting part, there's a knock on the front door. They answer it; it's Person B, looking like they're walked through hell to get there, and as soon as the door opens, they burst into tears and collapse into Person A's shoulder. Why are they crying? What happens next?" Instead of not being together yet, I chose to make it post break up. The only thing canon in this is the fact that they broke up. Enjoy and leave a review! xx_**

* * *

It was pouring out. He grabbed a bottle of scotch from his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass before adding three ice cubes into the mix. It would be another long night.

His relationship with Cuddy had ended almost two months earlier and neither had spoken a word to the other more than what was needed to be said at work. He missed her. Not that he would ever admit that fact to her, but he missed waking up beside someone every morning. Six out of the ten months they had dated he had spent living in her home. They had even been discussing the possibility of moving in together just weeks before having broken up.

He felt a pang in his chest and shook the thoughts of her. She was done with him. He needed to accept that and begin to move on. Instead of continuing to sulk over the current state of his life, he decided to grab a book and use it to keep his mind from wandering to thoughts of her.

House limped out of the kitchen and into the living room, placing the glass of scotch on his coffee table before walking over to the shelves of books lining one of the walls and examining his collection.

_Gray's Anatomy. No._

_Twilight. What?_

He raised an eyebrow at the oddity in his collection.

The book wasn't his.

Then it hit him. It was Cuddy's. He threw the book to the side, figuring that either she would come asking for it or that he would eventually return it.

_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Not time for a reread yet._

_The Hunger Games. Sounds violent. _

He pulled the book out from between the others it was tightly wedged between and read the back cover. He hadn't remembered buying the book but then again he had so many books it was hard to keep track of them. Deciding it worthy of his attention, he dropped down onto his couch, taking a long chug of his scotch before pulling out his reading glasses, opening the book, and beginning to read.

He was just getting to the part where the main character, Katniss would find out her training scores, when there was a loud knocking at his door. He chose to ignore it and attempt to continue to read, but as the knocking became incessant, he set the book aside and looked at his watch. It was past midnight. Who could be knocking on his door at such an hour?

He pulled the door open to find Cuddy standing in his threshold, completely drenched from the rain. So much so that he wondered if she had walked from her house to his apartment.

Before he could ask her what she was doing there, she burst into tears and collapsed into his shoulder.

Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her as he had done so many times before they had broken up.

"My mother died." He heard her whisper into his shoulder.

He felt his heart sink for her as he tightened his arms around her small frame. She cried into him until his shirt was soaked through, and knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop for a few hours at least, he gingerly lifted her into his arms, thankful that his leg wasn't acting up and walked over to the couch, sitting down and shifting her into his lap.

"What happened?" He asked softly, running his hand up her back in attempt to comfort her.

"She had a heart attack…Her BP got too high and she had run out of her pills a few days ago and I was supposed to take her some yesterday because she didn't want to pay the outrageous price at the pharmacy so I offered to fill her a script for several months' worth of pills so she wouldn't have to worry about them, but that board meeting took too long and I didn't get home until after ten because of paper work and if I had been able to take her the script…"

She reburied her face into his shoulder and he felt his chest ache at the amount of pain she was in.

It was obvious that she felt guilty for her mother's death.

"Cuddy…It's not your fault. She would have had the heart attack regardless of how high her blood pressure got…You know that."

His words only made her cry harder and he sighed.

"Come on."

When she had finally calmed a bit, he carried her into his bedroom and laid her down onto his bed before limping over to his dresser and pulling out a pair of his pajama bottoms and one of his tee shirts and handing them to her for her to change into. "You take the bed, I'll be on the couch. If you nee –"

"Please…don't leave me alone." She whispered, her lip trembling as she reached out and grabbed hold of his wrist.

He ran a hand over his face, sighing.

"Why me? Why not Wilson? Or one of the girls? Why did you come to me?"

"Because you're the one I need." She dropped her hand from his wrist.

"Cuddy you broke up with me two months ago and then you just show up on my doorstep –"

"House, my mother is dead. I came to you because you are the one I one I need right now."

"I wasn't capable of being there for you the first time around, what makes you think I'm capable of being there now?"

He was completely and utterly confused as to why she had chosen to come to him after she had so easily kicked him to the curb when he had relapsed out of the fear of losing her. She wanted had wanted nothing to do with him up until this point.

"You're already capable…You could have turned me away but you let me in. Do you not want me here because I can go?" She replied, and he could hear her voice cracking as she stood.

"I'm not going to turn you away."

He watched her breakdown again and once more she was leaning against him.

He had never seen her so distraught.

"Change into these." He said softly, taking the clothes he had handed her earlier and putting them into her hands.

He left the room for a few moments to go into the kitchen and grab a water bottle for her before coming back to find her changed into his clothes. She'd pulled her hair back out of her face and her eyes were red and puffy.

"Here." He said handing her the bottle of water before pulling open the top drawer of the bedside table and grabbing a bottle of aspirin, setting it on the top of the table. He knew the crying would leave her with a migraine later on.

"Are you sure you want me to stay with you?" He asked, watching her take two of the pills.

"If you don't want to stay with me –"

"I'm not saying that." He replied cutting her off. "I'm asking you if you're sure of this."

"Yes, I'm sure." She retorted.

He nodded, before limping over to his side of the bed and slipping in under the covers. He pulled her against him, knowing that regardless of whether or not he did, she would end up pressed against him by the morning. Even on the nights when they hadn't gone to bed on the best of terms, they had shifted towards one another and ended up pressed against each other.

He ran his fingers along her upper arm as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

It felt so odd to him that he had her in his bed again after such a long period of absence. It didn't matter that it wasn't sexual; he missed the feel of her beside him but the fact that she came back to him in her time of need only made him hate himself for not having been able to be there for her the first time she needed him.

"Where's Rachel?" He asked suddenly, noting that she had appeared at his door sans her little one.

"Julia has her. She wanted to take her for the weekend, something about wanting to take the kids to the zoo so she picked her up this morning."

He nodded.

"When's the funeral?"

"I don't know." She replied softly and he was afraid she would start crying again, but he let out a small sigh of relief when she didn't. "Will you come with me?"

"Cuddy…"

"Please House. Can you just do this for me, as a friend?"

"Ok." He replied, knowing deep down that it would be as anything but a friend if he attended her mother's funeral.

* * *

The following morning he awoke to find Cuddy in his kitchen, brewing coffee. Her eyes were red and it was obvious that she was trying to put on a tough front, just as she had for the past few weeks since their break up.

As much as he wanted to believe otherwise, he knew that breaking up with him had not been an easy decision for her to make. He'd been the longest relationship she had had in years and he knew that for a good amount of time they both believed that maybe, they would make it in the long run.

She handed him a mug of coffee before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Morning." Cuddy murmured softly.

"Morning." He grunted in reply, looking down at her. "Did you walk here last night?" He asked as she leaned against the counter and took a sip from the mug of hot liquid.

"Yes, but I didn't walk from my house. I was at getting something to eat at that little place on the corner of Mercer, the one where we went on a date once when Julia called me. The first person who came to mind to mind was you. I needed to see you. I just needed you."

"Sometimes we seek comfort in the person we least expect to need."

"I didn't least expect to need you. You've always been the person I wanted to comfort me, you just never got the chance to do it…properly…but you did it last night…Thank you."

"It's not a problem." He replied, feeling uncomfortable at the unneeded thanks.

"I need to go to Julia's and…down to the hospital up in Newton…"

"There are some of your clothes in the closet…and your drawer still has some of your stuff in it."

He hadn't been able to bring himself to return her things in the hopes that maybe they would reconcile, and she hadn't asked for them back either, making him wonder if a part of her hoped for the same as well.

He watched as she nodded before she walked out of the room and he heard the sound of the shower running.

* * *

She had no clue what she was doing. The only thing she did know was that being in House's apartment, with him, made her feel safe and comfortable.

Her mother was dead, and the only person she wanted to be near was her ex.

When her mother had had a health crisis months earlier, House had been the one to comfort her after the entire ordeal had blown over. He had been the one who had risked everything to make sure her mother had not gone undiagnosed because he was so afraid of losing her if her mother had died. He had been the one to console her when the stress had gotten so overwhelming that she had broken down and he had found her in the bathroom of the bedroom they had shared, sitting on the edge of the bathtub in hysterics. She had been so relieved that the entire ordeal was over with and that her mother would be okay that she had let all of the emotions she had kept bottled up over whelm her. And she remembered him pulling her into his arms and sitting with her on the bathroom floor, reassuring her that everything would be okay. Why wouldn't she want him to be with her now that her mother was actually gone?

She missed him and spending the night wrapped in his arms again had reminded her of just how much she missed having him around.

Who cared if she had broken up with him?

She was human.

She was allowed to make mistakes.

She was allowed to regret her choice in breaking up with him.

Cuddy stepped out of the shower and let out a sad sigh. Her head was unclear; her mind was whirring a million miles a minute and nothing made sense to her. The only thing that made sense was that she wanted to be near him.

She changed into the black jeans and white tee shirt of hers she had found in his closet before slipping on the pair of flats she had worn the previous night.

When she exited the bathroom she found House changing into his street clothes. She could tell that he had showered in the second bathroom from the water glistening against his chest as he slipped a black tee shirt over his head.

"How many days do I need to pack clothes for?" He asked making way to his closet and pulling out clothes.

"Just one…Julia made the arrangements for the funeral tomorrow, and the burial…She knew what mom wanted better than I did…" She said softly, watching as House nodded before pulling out a black button down and his dress pants.

She was touched by his simple gesture of choosing to pack appropriate clothing.

She let out a small laugh as he pulled out a pair of black Nikes.

"Let's go pick up your car and then we can go back to your place and you can pick up your stuff."

She nodded.

Five minutes later she was getting out of his car and into her own. He had driven her down the three blocks to where she had left her car the night before and they had agreed to meet up at her house.

When she pulled into her driveway she was not at all surprised to find him leaning against the trunk of his car, the duffel bag containing his clothes slung over his shoulder. She popped open the trunk before getting out, letting him put his bag into it.

Cuddy opened the door to her home, letting him in behind her.

"If you want anything, help yourself." She replied, shutting the door behind her.

"Will do." He responded, already making his way towards the kitchen.

She shook her head, her lips forming a small smile. She walked into her bedroom and into her closet, flipping on the light and scanning the racks of her clothing for the clothes she needed. She walked over and pulled out a black blazer with a matching skirt and a dark purple blouse. Walking over to her collection of shoes she grabbed the nearest pair of black Louboutin pumps.

She laid the clothes out onto her bed before grabbing the rest of the things she needed and packing them into a small suitcase.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and took a deep breath.

* * *

He offered to drive and he was surprised when she didn't say no. It was only a half hour drive from her house to her sister's.

When he pulled into the driveway of her sister's home, he saw her tense in his peripheral vision. He reached across and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, knowing that it was what she needed.

He followed behind her as they walked up the cobblestone path leading towards the front door. House watched as Cuddy took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

The moment Julia answered the door the two women embraced one another. The façade he had seen Cuddy keep up with all day melted away the moment she was in her elder sister's arms. The two women pulled apart and they stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

He placed his hand on the small of Cuddy's back, letting her know that he was there. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and he was surprised that once again her source of comfort instead of her sister.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said looking over at Julia as she pulled out a tissue from her pocket and wiped at her eye.

"Thanks." She replied. "She would have never admitted it but Mom actually liked you." She continued, shaking her head as a small smile spread across her face.

He nodded, choosing not to mention how at one point Arlene had told him he was good for Cuddy. He last thing he wanted was to set off either one of the two women again.

House ran a hand up and down Cuddy's back in a comforting manner, noting that she wasn't even crying anymore, just burying her face into his shoulder as she pressed herself against him. She pulled away and looked up at him, her grey eyes soft as her hand moved up to his cheek.

He leaned into her touch, feeling her thumb brush against his cheek. He could feel Julia's eyes on them, her curiosity getting the best of her regardless of the situation. He knew she didn't care much for him, but he also knew that she wanted what was best for her younger sister, regardless of her opinion.

It seemed that at the point in time he was what was best for Cuddy.

He watched her sigh before dropping her hand before running it through her hair and turning to face her sister.

* * *

"Where are the kids?" Cuddy asked, watching her sister's face fall at the question.

"They're in the back playing with the dog… I haven't told them yet…I was waiting for you."

"Ok." She replied, putting on her brave face as she took a deep breath.

She motioned for House to follow after her when her sister led them into the living room. Cuddy watched as her sister opened the screen door that led to the backyard before calling them inside.

She smiled at the sound of Rachel's giggle when she ran into the room and directly at her legs.

"You brought House!" Rachel squeaked as she picked up her daughter and held her close.

"Hey kid." House said reaching out and ruffling the little girl's hair.

"Uh, Rachel…"

She swallowed hard, not knowing how exactly to break it to her three year old that her grandmother had died.

"Rachel… Grandma…Nana, she…died." She said softly, feeling the sting of tears form again.

She bit her lip, fighting back the tears.

She needed to be strong for her daughter. She couldn't allow herself to break in front of her.

"What's that?" The three year old asked.

"It's when…It's…"

"Rach, do you remember when we watched Blackbeard, and his parrot Polly died, and his eyes turned to crosses? Well what happened to your Nana is kind of like that…She was sick and her heart was tired and it stopped working…and when your heart stops working your body goes to sleep for a long, long time…"

She was thankful for House's interruption, giving her the relief of having to explain to her daughter something she herself could not fully believe had occurred.

"Nana asleep forever?" Rachel asked, innocently.

"Yeah, kid. She's asleep forever." He replied.

She watched as her daughter pouted, not fully understanding the situation.

"Mommy sad?"

"Yes, honey. Mommy's sad." Cuddy responded, feeling the tears start to run down her face.

"Don't be sad Mommy." Her daughter replied, bringing her small hand up to her cheek.

Cuddy let out a soft laugh at her daughter's tenderness, swallowing hard at the lump that had formed in her throat again.

"Love you Mommy." Rachel said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too honey." She replied, kissing her daughter's temple.

She felt House's hand against her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

She was so grateful that he had agreed to come with her and help her through this emotional time when it was the last thing she deserved from him. She had broken his heart and then they had avoided each other at all costs for two months, and then she had gone to him in her moment of need and instead of turning her away like she had expected him to, he had taken her in with open arms.

She took a deep breath, wiping at her eyes as her sister reentered the room, clearly have just broken the news to her own children.

"Ok honey…uhm, go play with your cousins okay?" She said setting her down.

"Ok!" The three year old replied before running towards the playroom.

"Where's Mark?" She asked, noting that her brother-in-law was nowhere to be found.

"He's uhm he's at the morgue finishing up the arrangements for the funeral…"

Cuddy nodded.

Julia and her husband had been more present in her mother's life for the past few years than she had been. They would know more than she what her mother's last wishes would be.

"Uhm, I'm going to go out and get dinner for everyone…Is there anything I should avoid getting?"

"No, they'll eat anything."

"Ok, I'll be back in less than an hour."

* * *

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked when Julia had left the room.

"No, it's okay… I just want to get a little bit of air." She said softly, running her hand up his arm.

"Ok." He replied.

He watched her go before sitting down on the couch. It was less than five minutes before Julia entered the room, her curiosity obviously getting the best of her.

"So…" She said, her tone of voice implying her curiosity.

"So…" He replied, not willing to give in so easily.

"Are you two…"

"No. We're not…"

"Then why–"

"She showed up at my door last night after you called her…She walked three blocks in the rain…I couldn't turn her away."

"Well thank you…For taking care of her…You know that she and I don't always get along, and that she and mom didn't always get along either, but thank you for being there…"

He nodded his acknowledgement.

"Do you think you two will…"

"I don't know." He replied honestly.

He had no clue what was happening between himself and Cuddy. He had no clue if this situation would bring them closer together or if she really just needed him to be there for her in a moment of distress and that was that.

"Well whatever it is you two have going on, just…take care of her okay? I'm not around as often as you are, I can't be there for her all the time."

"I can try but I can't make any promises."

She nodded before talking out of the room.

When Cuddy returned an hour later, he watched her retreat into the guest room while everyone helped themselves to dinner.

House entered the room, shutting the door behind him, finding her sitting on the edge of the bed, her head bowed.

"I went down to the morgue…and I said my goodbyes…and I apologized for being such a shitty daughter, and not being around more, especially after dad died…and for not taking enough time out of my life to see her, or not having invited her to stay at my place more often…"

He could see that she was putting up the façade of someone who was trying to be strong because she didn't want to cry again. He knew how much she hated being perceived as weak, and how much she hated crying but he also knew that she was grieving, and that crying was her coping mechanism regardless of how badly she hated it.

He walked towards her as the walls she was holding up crumbled and she buried her face into her hands. He had never seen her so guilt ridden. He sat down beside her and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her against his side.

"Your mom knew you loved her. She showed up when she wanted to, you didn't need to invite her over constantly like your sister did. You know she understood that most of your time was dedicated to your job, especially before Rachel was in the picture, and even then you know she was proud of you. You told me yourself that she loved to brag to her friends about your job, and how much better than their kids you were, and how much smarter than them you were. She may have never said it but Cuddy you were her pride and joy…"

He rested his chin on top of her head as she clutched at his shirt as if he was her last hope.

"She died alone. No one was there with her…she was alone…What if I end up alone too? What if –"

"Cuddy, you will not die alone. Your daughter adores you. Your sister's kids adore you. You'll get married to someone, and hell maybe you'll have another kid, but you will never be alone."

"I miss you."

"I miss you too."

The following morning he held her hand as she received condolences from friends and family at her mother's funeral. They hadn't needed to worry about keeping an eye on Rachel; Wilson had offered to watch her. It would be too difficult for Cuddy to keep an eye on her for several hours, while being bombarded with people the entirety of the time.

House introduced himself as a close friend of hers, but majority of the people gazed down at their linked hands and knew better than to believe him. When they had gone to the cemetery for the burial, he drove, knowing that it was better that way. He watched from the corner of his eye as she pulled out a pair of black sunglasses from the glove compartment and put them on, taking a deep breath.

He sat beside her during the burial his arm draped around her shoulders as she carried Rachel in her lap and held her sister's hand.

He admired her strength, having kept a brave face the entire time, not having broken once throughout the course of the day although he knew she was falling apart on the inside.

It was one thing for her to allow him to see her cry, but it was another for her to allow people who barely knew her breakdown. He gave her a reassuring squeeze as they stood and the casket began to lower into the ground.

* * *

She was exhausted both emotionally and physically from the events of the day. She couldn't find it in herself to cry anymore after having done so much of it the past two nights.

It was late when they made it back to her place after the burial.

She put Rachel down to sleep and walked back out into the living room where House was still standing.

"Thank you." She said softly, bringing her hand up to his cheek.

She looked up at the blue eyes she knew so well and before she could stop herself, pressed her lips against his.

His hands moved down to her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her against him.

She had missed him so much and the feel of his lips against hers again made her forget about the pain of losing her mother, even if for a moment.

"Cuddy." He said breathlessly, pulling away from her.

"Don't…don't…Life's too short to question everything…I just want you…"

She kissed him again, tentatively and she let out a small moan when he kissed back, his lips nipping at her own. Her hands moved up to his chest, tugging at the fabric of his shirt before her fingers unbuttoned each of the buttons as his hands untucked her blouse from her skirt before planting them firmly on her ass and pulling her against him.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked breathlessly, his forehead leaning against hers.

"I love you, I've never been more sure of anything else in my life." She replied softly.

His lips pressed against her forehead, making a trail down her cheek and along her jaw before finally stopping at her neck. She felt him bury his face into her shoulder and his hands were on her ass again, only lifting her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist before he carried her into the bedroom.

He laid her down on the bed and unbuttoned her blouse, kissing her breasts, her hands instinctively moving into his hair.

She'd missed the feel of having him so close to her.

It was true when they said that absence made the heart grow fonder.

* * *

He diverted his attention away from her chest and resumed to kiss her on the lips, running his tongue against her bottom lip as he felt her hands graze his groin before they found their place at the belt of his pants.

She unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants and he pulled at her skirt until he got it off of her. Their mouths never broke contact as they undressed each other fully, clothing items haphazardly discarded and thrown to the floor.

House slid a hand up her inner thigh, feeling Cuddy's body arch towards his.

He was aching for her as desperately as she was for him.

He thrust into her and she gasped softly, her fingernails running slowly across his back.

They picked up a slow rhythm, their bodies fitting together almost perfectly. He had missed the feeling of her silky skin against his as their bodies became one. He missed running his hands along her curves as he had done so many times while they had been together.

House pulled his lips away from hers and kissed her jaw, her hand moving to the back of his neck, her fingers playing with the hairs at the back of his head. He slipped his hands beneath her body and gripped her ass. She wrapped her legs around his waist and they both let out a moan of pleasure as he thrust deeper into her.

* * *

She kissed his chest, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as he increased his pace. She kissed his cheek before finding his mouth once more. She heard him groan as she felt his hand slip between their bodies. She let out a whimper against his lips as his fingers found her clit.

Cuddy arched her back into his, gasping into his mouth as she felt his fingers rub her clit until she was close to coming over the edge.

"Let it go." She heard him murmur against her lips as his free hand found hers.

She let out a cry of pleasure as her body tensed, her legs quivering and her chest pounding as her orgasm hit her. She squeezed his hand before pulling away from his mouth and leaning her forehead against his, her other hand on his neck, keeping his face close to hers.

"I missed you." She whimpered breathlessly, removing her hand from his neck and bringing it to rest on his cheek.

He kissed her, moaning into her mouth as he came.

House collapsed against her and she wrapped her arms around him before he turned onto his back and pulled her on top of his chest.

She felt his lips against the top of her head as his arms wrapped themselves tightly around her. She buried her face into the space between his neck and shoulder.

"So now what?" She heard him murmur.

She smiled against his skin.

* * *

_**Abrupt ending, I know. But I found it fitting to leave it that way. Comments? If you have any prompts don't be afraid to send them to me! I'll update "This Is The Last Time" soon, I promise!**_


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